Devalok
God · All traditions · Pan-India

The Gandharvas

Also called: Gandharva, Gandharba

In the Rigveda mostly a single bright being of the upper air, the Gandharva, who stands on the vault of the sky, guards Soma and is the lover of the Apsaras; as Vishvavasu he is addressed at weddings. The Atharvaveda knows them as a numerous class living in waters and trees with their wives the Apsarases. In the Brahmanas they steal Soma and part Urvashi from Pururavas; in the epics and Puranas they are a people with kings and the singers of Indra's court.

soma marriage music sky

Sources: Hymns of the Rigveda, tr. R. T. H. Griffith (1896), hymns read for the Vedic layer; Hymns of the Atharva-Veda, tr. R. T. H. Griffith (1895); Vedic Mythology, A. A. Macdonell (1897); The Vishnu Purana, tr. H. H. Wilson (1840) · see The Gandharvas's web

Relations 5

The Gandharvas appears in

The Gandharvas consort of

  • Apsarases (Concept)
    The Apsarases are expressly called the wives of the Gandharvas (Atharvaveda 2.2.5).

The Gandharvas granted a boon to

The Gandharvas parent of

  • Yama (God)
    In their dialogue Yama says the Gandharva in the waters and the water nymph are their kin. Macdonell takes these as the twins' parents; Griffith, following Sayana, reads the Gandharva as Vivasvat and the nymph as Saranyu.

The Gandharvas tested

Stories 5

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